Poorly thought out

I’ve decided that my new obsession will be solar heating. I came across this little article from Mother Earth News about a solar Heat Grabber, and the next hour of my Sunday afternoon was spent making a poor prototype out of cardboard, plastic wrap and duct tape. Basically, you open your window a little, stick this thing out in the sunshine, and you get hot air pumping into your south-facing room without sacrificing the light coming in.

In the winter, such a thing would only work upstairs, since the house to the south shades the windows on the first floor. I am struggling beecause there is no way on this planet that I would ever make a nice-looking thing. This cardboard one is at the very height of my skilz. I’ve been daydreaming about alternatives – a black carpet in the room? Bottles of water spray-painted black and sitting on the windowsills to make a heat sink? One of these? Oh, the wonderful, wonderful minutes I’ll spend in my brain, waiting for the cold to come!!